New toll jolts LA motorists used to freeways

Adam Nagourney THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published Saturday November 17, 2012 at 6:00 am

They call them freeways for a reason.

But one of the symbols of the American freeway — Interstate 110, which runs, or rather crawls, across central Los Angeles — is free no more. At precisely 10 p.m. last Saturday night, motorists faced a toll of up to $15.40 for the privilege of driving an 11-mile stretch of express lanes between Gardena and downtown Los Angeles.

This is the first toll in the history of Los Angeles County, a passage, as it were, and a jarring experience for a part of the country that has long celebrated the primacy of automobiles, not to mention the first syllable of the word “freeway.”

“I’ve been living here my whole life,” said S. Masani Jackson, as she waited on a 30-person line to buy the transponder required to enter the exclusive lanes. “And I have never had to pay for the 110 Freeway. It’s ridiculous.”

Los Angeles County is only putting a toe in the water. The toll applies to 11 miles of road, with another 14 mile-stretch on Interstate 10 to open next year. It is a one-year pilot program, funded by the federal government. Carpoolers (which is defined, generously, as a vehicle carrying two passengers), motorcycles and buses continue to ride for free. And the county has a nearby example to study, since congestion pricing began in neighboring Orange County in 1995.

Genevieve Giuliano, the director of the National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research at the University of Southern California, said the increasing crush of traffic here, combined with cutbacks in federal highway construction funds, made these kinds of programs more urgent.

“It’s a very tough sell for the public,” she said. “But it works very well when it happens.”

The tolls are the latest manifestation of a campaign by Los Angeles officials to challenge the primacy of the automobile to deal with congestion that has long been a threat to the city’s vitality. Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa has advocated a sharp expansion of the region’s subway system and encouraged the use of bicycles.

“People want relief,” said Mark Ridley-Thomas, a Los Angeles County supervisor. “There’s nothing complicated about it. Considering that LA distinguishes itself as the traffic congestion capital of the nation, we felt obligated to innovate, experiment, whatever we can do to make driving on the freeways more bearable.”